STORRS, Conn. — Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack blasted the NCAA women’s basketball committee Monday night for consistently putting her teams in the UConn subregional in Storrs.
“For us to do what we’ve done to continuously have to come to UConn, and every single school that I go to, from Buffalo to [Syracuse], it’s unfair to the young people,” Legette-Jack said in her opening statement following a 98-45 second-round NCAA tournament loss to the Huskies. “We, I thought, deserved a little more respect.”
The Orange have had to face the Huskies in the second round in both tournament berths under Legette-Jack, and five of the program’s past seven appearances overall. Three of those games took place on UConn’s home court.
Her Buffalo squad also fell to the Huskies in the second round of the tournament in 2019.
“After being in this business for 37 years, and to have to come and be in this particular bracket every freaking year is unacceptable. It’s wrong,” Legette-Jack said. “Put us on a 10-line, whatever. But for us to continue to come to Connecticut year after year after year is, to me, it’s a personal attack, because I just think that we are way better than what we performed today.”
While following seed order, one of the NCAA committee’s seeding principles is that teams are placed “as close to home as possible to maximize fan accessibility,” according to the NCAA website. The committee listed Princeton, another nearby program to the Huskies, as the 34 overall seed and Syracuse as 36.
“I just want the young people that’s in my locker room to have a fighting chance, and I am grateful to be in an NCAA tournament, from where we’ve come from, but I think that we’ve earned the right to go anywhere outside of a four-hour radius,” Legette-Jack said.
The coach acknowledged that teams coming through UConn are “going to get the wrath of what they can bring.” The Orange felt UConn’s wrath indeed Monday. They trailed the defending champs 65-12 at halftime, though they were even (33-33) with the Huskies in the second half.
“After being in this business for 37 years, and to have to come and be in this particular bracket every freaking year is unacceptable. It’s wrong. Put us on a 10-line, whatever. But for us to continue to come to Connecticut year after year after year is, to me, it’s a personal attack, because I just think that we are way better than what we performed today.”
Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack
“I couldn’t simulate what we were going to face, and I recognized that in shootaround,” Legette-Jack said. “I saw the distraction. I saw the looks in seeing all those Final Four championships. And I saw the weight go on the back of those young ladies’ heels, and to the point where they couldn’t make free throws. And so I knew that we were in trouble at around 2:30 this afternoon.”
Syracuse’s 53-point defeat is the worst NCAA tournament loss in school history.
“I just know that this team right here had a strong chance of getting beyond this particular level,” Legette-Jack said. “I am hoping that I’m not disrespecting anyone. I’m hoping that I’m not bringing shame to Syracuse by crying spilled milk. I’ve never said anything in this kind of light before.”
The Orange — who were without standout guard Dominique Darius on Monday because of a hand injury — finished their season 24-9, returning to the NCAA tournament following a 12-18 record in 2024-25.
